This invention relates to a winch handle and in particular to a floatable or buoyant handle.
Up until this time handles have been used for the operation of winches for a variety of purposes. It is however particularly common to use winch handles on winches used on marine craft such as boats, sailing craft, yachts and the like. These will be hereinafter referred to as "marine craft". In using winch handles on marine craft, it is known, and relatively common, to use releasable winch handles which are able to be releasably locked into engagement with winches on such marine craft; in particular this is the case, where different winches on a marine craft require operation over a relatively short period of time--for example, in the case of sailing craft, when a sailing craft is "going about". Certainly it is relatively common in marine craft to provide one or more releasably engageable winch handles which are continually engaged with and disengaged from winches, and which are also kept or stored in appropriate pockets, recesses and the like in the marine craft when they are not in use. It will be appreciated therefore that there is always a risk that such winch handles will become lost overboard, such as to sink and to be lost.
Winch handles known and used up until this time are usually constructed of a relatively strong metal material or other relatively heavy material, having properties of strength and rigidity. Thus, when lost overboard, or dropped into the water, they will sink so as to be generally irretrievable. Generally the winch handles known and used up until this time have been relatively expensive. Thus, the loss is an expensive exercise in so far as replacement is concerned. Further, during operation or use of a marine craft, the use of one or more winches can be important to the operation and indeed safety of the marine craft and the crew or people on board. Thus, the loss of one or more winch handles during operation or use of a marine craft can cause substantial inconvenience and indeed danger.
The present invention sets out to overcome or at least minimise these problems by providing an efficient and straightforward floatable and/or buoyant winch handle.
A floatable winch handle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,827. The winch handle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,827 is floatable, but is not considered suitable because it does not have inherent features of strength and rigidity as are inherent in the winch handle of the present invention. Further, the winch handle of the present invention is a straightforward and efficiently operable winch handle as compared with the somewhat "cumbersome" winch handle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,827.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a straightforward and efficient floatable and/or buoyant winch handle.
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.